“Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”
Does God actually lead anyone into temptation? Wouldn’t that be like a police office waving you to go through a red light, then giving you a ticket? The Bible says, When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone (James 1:13), so that can’t be what this means.
Does God actually lead anyone into temptation? Wouldn’t that be like a police office waving you to go through a red light, then giving you a ticket? The Bible says, When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone (James 1:13), so that can’t be what this means.
Looking more closely, you’ll discover that the second phrase, “Deliver us from evil,” gives meaning to the first, “Lead us not into temptation.” What we are praying is for God to protect us from situations that are so tempting to us that we will likely succumb and fall into sin. We’re saying “Keep me away from places where I’m going to be tempted beyond my strength, and keep away from me people and spiritual powers who are evil and are likely to draw me into sin.”
Of course, we need to cooperate with God in this. If you struggle with alcohol abuse, don’t go into bars. If you struggle with drugs, stay away from people who use them. If you’re tempted by pornography, get a filter and have someone else set the password! If you tend to overspend, freeze your credit card in a block of ice so you really can only use it in emergencies. And, when tempted, remember to pray before you act.
God will always provide a way out – if we’ll only take it!
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